A few months ago we released a preview of our Google Cloud NetApp Volumes MCP server for use as a Gemini CLI extension in Google Cloud shell. The server is now generally available, enabling customers to manage Google Cloud NetApp Volumes using natural language through AI assistants such as Gemini CLI and other MCP‑compatible clients. With this release, developers and storage administrators can provision, configure, and operate enterprise storage resources directly from AI‑powered interfaces, reducing operational complexity and accelerating day‑to‑day workflows.
This GA release reflects strong customer interest during preview and builds on NetApp’s broader collaboration with Google Cloud to bring AI‑powered experiences closer to enterprise data. The MCP Server integrates seamlessly with Gemini CLI and development environments such as Cloud shell and VS Code, allowing teams to adopt AI‑assisted storage management without changing existing workflows.
With GA, the Google Cloud NetApp Volumes MCP Server is ready for production use, giving customers a supported, open, and extensible way to combine enterprise‑grade cloud storage with modern AI‑driven operations.
What’s new?
As part of the GA release, we added several important capabilities to the MCP tools. These include support for Flex Unified large capacity pools using SCALE_TYPE_SCALEOUT, ONTAP-mode pools for customers who want to manage their GCNV storage using familiar NetApp ONTAP® software APIs and commands, large capacity volumes with optional constituent count and multiple endpoint support, and advanced SMB volume attributes such as SMB encryption, hidden shares, access-based enumeration, continuously available shares, and expanded SMB settings.
Looking ahead, we are working on extending support for ONTAP-mode with the intelligence to help you discover and run the right APIs automatically when working with your ONTAP-mode pools. ONTAP-mode gives you additional capabilities such as:
- SnapLock® software for immutable, WORM storage,
- Qtrees for directory-level share and quota management,
- File Access Logging to log SMB and NFSv4.1 client access to files and directories,
- Enhanced security with on-access antivirus scanning and Autonomous Ransomware Protection,
- Advanced replication topologies using SnapMirror® unified replication and SnapVault® backup,
- Low latency, high throughput storage access using NVMe/TCP,
- Multi-volume data protection for mission-critical applications using consistency groups, and
- Advanced ONTAP configurations such as non-AD LDAP services, as well as ONTAP settings that are not currently exposed through Google APIs and gcloud commands.
Getting started
The NetApp Volumes MCP server is currently hosted as a public repository under NetApp in GitHub: https://github.com/NetApp/gcnv-mcp-server or via npm as gcnv-mcp-server@1.0.2. The README includes instructions for installing it in Cloud shell:
- Authenticate with Google Cloud
- Install the MCP server
- Confirm it’s installed and registered
Once the MCP server is installed, you can use it to create resources like pools and volumes, configure policies for Active Directory, CMEK, or backups, and work with data protection features like snapshots, volume replications, or backups.
The GCNV MCP Server is part of NetApp’s broader strategy to bring AI closer to enterprise data and operations. By pairing enterprise‑grade storage services with open, extensible AI integration models like MCP, NetApp enables customers to modernize how they interact with infrastructure while preserving the reliability, security, and data management capabilities they expect from NetApp.
